Stefano Domenicali, the Italian manager and the current CEO of Formula One Group, admitted to being impressed by Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc for the way he handled the unfortunate moment which ended his French Grand Prix yesterday and his reaction to crashing out while leading the race at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet.
After starting the race from P1, Charles Leclerc held off the challenge of Max Verstappen in the first few laps of the French Grand Prix, but just as it looked that the F1-75 car had a good chance of winning given the lower tyre degradation as compared to the Red Bull RB18, the Monegasque driver spun off the track and hit barriers on Lap 18 of 53 while under no pressure, as the Dutchman had pitted.
Charles Leclerc could not continue the race and let out a cry of anguish over the team radio due to his unforced mistake that allowed Max Verstappen to further extend his championship lead. Despite the fact that some indicated a mechanical failure as the main cause for the crash, the Scuderia Ferrari driver immediately admitted in his interview with the media that he had simply made a costly error, as his honest assessment drew praise from F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.
“It was a difficult day for Charles, but he showed great dignity in his reaction to the outcome and reminds us again how incredible these young men are,” the former Ferrari boss said in a post on social media.
Stefano Domenicali also reserved praise for Red Bull and Verstappen after the race, as the Dutchman once again knew how to capitalize on the Maranello team’s misfortunes. The 2021 Formula 1 world champion secured an easy win in the French Grand Prix once Charles Leclerc was out of the race and Carlos Sainz was forced to fight his way back through the field, while Mercedes took their best result of the 2022 Formula 1 season so far with second and third places for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
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“Congratulations to Red Bull and Max on a great win and to Mercedes for the podiums from Lewis and George,” wrote Stefano Domenicali.
Ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen now enjoys a 63-point lead over Charles Leclerc in the Drivers’ standings.
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